The business of menswear is growing. Like a younger brother who is fast catching up in size to his older sister, it is growing fast, even faster than womenswear. The beginnings of this boom can perhaps be traced to the popularity of the term ‘metrosexual’ in the mid-90s, used to describe then contemporary, city-dwelling men who placed increased emphasis on personal grooming and fashion. It has now been joined by ‘yummie’ (young urban male), ‘Henry’ (high earner, not rich yet) and even ‘spornosexual’ (the more extreme body, image and style obsessed version of the metrosexual).
Buzzwords they may be, but what they are describing is the increasing number of young men spending money on their appearance. As with most other trends these days, this too is overwhelmingly being driven by millennials, or those aged 25-34, who are being driven by the latest fashions when buying clothes.
Growth of cable TV (as well as local TV channels showing foreign programming dubbed in local languages), ready access to social media and increasing smartphone penetration are exposing Sri Lankan men to well-dressed actors, celebrities and athletes, igniting their interest in fashion and style. The proliferation of fashion shows that feature menswear and their coverage by newspapers, youth tabloids and magazines add to this trend.
The rise of online retailers and the use of smartphones to help make quicker shopping decisions have also supported the emerging male shopper. Not only do they have access to the latest trends and looks, but online shopping allows men to ‘get in and get out’ even faster, with organized collections and quick search options. “Online retailers now promote stylish menswear products, so when men buy gadgets at good deals, they also end up seeing new menswear clothing,” says Colombo Fashion Week Founder and President Ajai Vir Singh. According to a report by research organization Ibis World, 17.4% average annual growth in online sales of menswear from 2010 to 2015 outpaced all other categories, including electronics and beer, and is projected to grow 14.2% until 2020, retaining the top position.
Globally, menswear is booming and outpacing the womenswear market in terms of growth. It accounted for £300 billion in sales in 2014 (4.5% growth) and is expected to reach £325 billion by 2019, according to market research firm Euromonitor. This is in comparison to womenswear, which grew 3.7% in the same year and accounted for $662 billion in sales. This is especially true of the luxury market, which has outpaced womenswear with growth between 9% and 13% year on year since the depths of the economic downturn in 2009, according to a 2013 study by luxury goods consulting firm Bain & Company.
[pullquote]Menswear presents a great opportunity for clothing brands looking to diversify their product portfolios and gain new customers[/pullquote]
The world of high fashion has certainly taken note. When London Fashion Week first introduced a separate day for menswear in 2012, called London Collections: Men, it hardly drew A-list attendees or media coverage. It now boasts four days crowded with luxury conglomerates, big brands and the raw, young talent London is famed for. In 2015, it was followed suit by New York and is now a venue where women cede the show to the men who express themselves dressed to the hilt in high end, high-low or street. Here in Sri Lanka, the always on-trend Colombo Fashion Week dedicated Day 3 of its recently held 2016 iteration to menswear, with eight designers including Gihan Ediriweera, Mevan Kaluarachchi and Heshan de Silva showcasing well-received menswear-dominated collections.
Millennials as a group believe in expressing themselves, and unlike the previous generation, which chose to define itself by its choice of electronics, clothes form a huge part of expressing a millennial’s identity. Social media and the selfie culture no doubt factor into the equation – previously, only the people you were with at a particular place saw what you wearing, now all 325 of your Facebook friends know as soon as you post your selfie.
When millennials enter the workplace, not only do they eschew formal shirts, trousers and tie for more casual clothing, but they chose a variety of colours over black trousers and white shirts. Their tendency to marry and raise families later in life also means that they have more money to spend on clothes for a longer period of time. This, in turn, is affecting the older male worker who feels the need to come across as just as hip as his younger counterpart,
fuelling a second wave of menswear sales. Singh, who is also the designer of organic eco-sustainable brand Conscience sees the shift happening in even the most conservative of workspaces in Sri Lanka. “The younger generation is already conscious of what they wear, and will buy if clothes are designed for them. But I see that even top bankers have started to experiment. They still wear white shirts and black pants, but they now wear colourful socks, their shirts have little detailing on them and they are not afraid to try a different colour of trousers during the weekend.” The first sign of change, he says, are the socks, then the shirt, then colour and finally the silhouette. “They are difficult and boring shoppers,” he adds, and must be approached with stylish functionality. He gives an example from his Conscience collection: “The shirt has elbow patches. The trousers have no belt, only two loops from each side to adjust the fit. There is a pocket for coins, slits at the bottom leg to allow for wearing boots, and it still doesn’t look out of place on a 40+ year old.” (For his next collection, he is working on jeans with a separate smartphone pocket slightly lower down the leg.)
The west may be at the forefront of the menswear boom at present, but future growth is expected to be driven by emerging markets and Asia Pacific in particular. At Colombo Fashion Week, one of the oldest fashion weeks in Asia, thanks to Singh’s foresight in particular, designers understood this shift and even womenswear designers are adding menswear to their lineups.
“All sections of society are being catered to,” emphasizes Singh. “There is Conscience at the high end, then there is FH, 2202, Arugam Bay, Shanika Samarakkody and Carlo. Colombo Fashion Week is also encouraging designers to focus on menswear to expand their design portfolio to make use of the demand.”
Growth in menswear has not been lost on retailers. “Even big fashion retailers are immersing themselves in the above demand by having their own in-store menswear brands. ODEL, NoLimit and Cool Planet, for example, are focused on men’s expanded scope.”
Menswear presents a great opportunity for clothing brands looking to diversify their product portfolios and gain new customers. Globally, a man’s annual disposable income is still 50% higher than a woman’s, meaning a large market is yet to be tapped to its full potential. The more brands are able to understand the unique psyches of male consumers nd harness their wealth, the more successful they will be. It’s not impossible to imagine a future where menswear can become as big an industry as womenswear.